


Love At First Ride

by Yukio



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: Annoying little brother, Battle Shell, Brotherly Love, Gen, Secrets, Shell Cycle, Surprises, TMNT 2003 Fanbook, Vigilante Casey Jones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 20:39:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14433639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yukio/pseuds/Yukio
Summary: Raph's brothers have a secret they're not sharing with him. Have they teamed up to pull a prank on him? Or is it something different? With a vigilante on the loose in the NYC streets, he decides to wait and see.This fanfiction is a part of the TMNT 2003 Fanbook.





	Love At First Ride

**Author's Note:**

> Big THANK YOU's to Chercherin, who put up with my constant rambling about the idea and helped with some troubles with the story, and Ravenshell, who did an awesome job with beta reading ^^

Since the moment Mikey had come to Don with the idea of the “Battle Shell”, there was something bugging the genius that didn’t allow him to concentrate fully on his project. It was a teeny tiny but very viable thought Don tried hard to push back in the farthest corner of his mind, but the little worm, the germ of a majestic idea, was biting its way to the part of Don’s brain responsible for ideas turning into reality.

Mikey was right in one crucial point: the turtles had no vehicle, _nothing_ , that would have helped them to get from one place to another fast. They were quick runners and they knew more shortcuts than any inhabitant of NYC, but not even the best runner in the universe could beat an engine.

“… what do you think, Donnie?” Mikey’s voice brought him back from his reverie.

“I think you have too much energy we should put to use,” Don said, giving up on his project. “We’re going to the junkyard.”

“Looking for the parts for the Battle Shell?” Mikey asked enthusiastically, and Don started anticipating that sooner or later his brother was going to have his wish granted. But not today. Don had better things to do. He needed time to give the “worm” the chance to show him its full potential and the best place to do so was the junkyard. Digging through the piles of junk, Don usually found the answers to the questions that were bugging him.    

“No,” he announced. “We’re going to look for anything useful. By the way, I’m not going to name any of my inventions a Battle Shell.” It sounded like something inspired by the comic books Mikey loved reading so much.

“No, you’re not,” Mikey said with a big smile. “Battle Shell is my invention, not yours. You’re only going to build it.”

Don was close to snapping at his brother, but he knew it would be pointless. When Mikey wanted to be annoying, there wasn’t much he could do. Fortunately, Mikey’s obsessions only lasted until he found something else to annoy his family. Don was positive that this time was no exception.

“Go get Leo, I’ll get my duffel bag,” he said in the end.

“Roger!” Mikey saluted, chuckling. “I’ll tell him we’re gonna look for parts for the Battle Shell!”

“No!”

The orange-masked ninja laughed and ran away to find their leader.

Don shook his head. Mikey didn’t seem to be affected at all by the earlier sparring session with Raph that had gone to hell before they’d even had time to warm up. Raph had stormed out of the lair after that and hadn’t returned since. He obviously needed time to cool off.

So they were one turtle short when they set out for the junkyard. Don would definitely have appreciated Raph’s muscles while digging through the piles of heavy materials, but since the hothead was on his mission to deal with his anger, the task to help Don fell on Leo’s shoulders.

While they were looking for anything serviceable, Mikey was goofing around. Unlike Don, for whom the junkyard was the source of utility material, Mikey regarded the place as a playground and his squeals of joy echoed through the night.

“So much for ninja stealth,” Leo sighed.

Don chuckled. “At least he’s not bored and driving us crazy.”

“YO! DONNIE! I HAVE SOMETHING HERE!” they heard Mikey’s call.

Leo groaned. “Just when I thought he couldn’t be any louder...”

“We’d better go before he really starts yelling,” Don said, leaving the pile he was rummaging through and hurrying to where Mikey was waiting for them.

“What did you find?” he asked as soon as he hopped from the roof of a car wreck, landing gracefully next to the orange-masked ninja. Leo was right at his heels, watching their surroundings.

“This! What do you say?” Mikey said cheerfully, beckoning to one of the many piles of junk.  At first Don didn’t know what his brother meant, but when he noticed a motorcycle lying nearby, everything was clear.

A big grin spread across Mikey’s face. “Isn’t it awesome? Of course it’s awesome! When you build the Battle Shell…”

“Stop it! I told you I was _not_ going to build anything like that and most definitely….” Don started hotly, but fell silent when his attention turned back to the bike, which was in almost perfect condition. The only flaws on its beauty were the missing engine and a big hole in the tank.

Don suddenly knew he found the answer to the thing that had been bugging him. He came up to the vehicle, looking it over. Mikey watched him breathlessly and for the first time since they had come to the junkyard he was silent.

“Not bad.” Don ran his hand over the cool metal frame. “I have a few ideas…”

“I knew it!” Mikey cried excitedly.

“Don,” Leo addressed the genius hesitantly, “you… don’t want to drag that thing all the way back home, do you?”

“I’m not working on it here obviously,” Don said and bent to the bike. He picked it up, ready to push it from the junkyard.

Leo watched him. “I really wish we had some kind of a truck or van for occasions like this…” he commented.

“Donnie, I know exactly what we need!” Mikey grinned.

“Don’t say it,” Don warned.

“The Battle Shell!”

*

Raph noticed something was up. At first sight everything seemed normal, but the red-masked ninja could feel there was something his brothers weren’t telling him. They probably thought the stealthy glances they liked sharing among themselves escaped his attention, but Raph wasn’t an idiot and he could tell when someone was deliberately hiding something from him. He couldn’t deny his brothers truly wanted to help him with the vigilante whackbag he had met a few days ago. But he couldn’t shake the feeling they wanted him around only when they were working together on the Battle Shell (as Mikey made them call the old truck they had found in the abandoned garage above their home).

Raph didn’t notice when it started. Leo and Don were able to entertain themselves most of the time; Mikey, however, was a completely different story. He and Raph usually liked hanging out together (as long as Mikey didn’t choose his red-masked brother as the victim of his pranks), so he realized that something was off only when he offered Mikey to accompany him topside, but the goofball turned him down.

“Sorry, Raphie, I have a date with April!”

“Huh?”

Mikey laughed and ran away.

Pissed, Raph tortured his punching bag and while doing so, he totally missed that Leo and Don spent much more time together that day than was common for them. What didn’t escape his attention though was the muffled conversation between Don and Mikey after the orange-masked brother had finally returned with a duffle bag packed with stuff. Normally, Raph wouldn’t have thought anything of that if he hadn’t been suspicious already. He took the first opportunity to hide and eavesdrop on their conversation.

“Do you have everything?” Don asked. Even though he was whispering, the excitement made his every word louder than if he had been calm. 

“Just like you wanted,” Mikey replied, not even trying to keep his voice down. “I brought spray paint, too.”

“Red?”

Mikey snorted. “No, orange,” he said sarcastically. “Of course red. What do you take me for?”

“Sorry. Just making sure…”

Raph frowned in his hiding place. This sounded like the two were working on some prank. It was never a good thing when Mikey and Don teamed up – such pranks were always sophisticated and hard to avoid.

After that the two turtles moved from their spot, so Raph couldn’t hear what they were saying anymore. Their chuckles, however, were enough to keep him alert. 

Later that day he saw Leo and Don go to the garage together, talking about something. There wouldn’t have been anything suspicious about it if they hadn’t fallen silent the moment he neared them. When they started talking again, the conversation was forced and Raph didn’t need to be a prophet to know that he had just disturbed a discussion he wasn’t supposed to hear. Maybe Don was trying to get Leo on board with that prank he and Mikey were preparing, and judging from Leo’s expression, Fearless didn’t seem to be completely opposed to it.

For a split second it occurred to Raph that his brothers wanted revenge for something he had done to them, he just couldn’t remember what it was. Or they were just being assholes. It wouldn’t have been the first time…

By the end of the day Raph was so fed up with all the secrecy that even the work on the Battle Shell didn’t bring him joy. He would have confronted his brothers, but he knew where it would have led and stopping the vigilante was more important right now.

As they proceeded with the work, Raph managed to push the upsetting thoughts to the back of his mind and by the time the Battle Shell was finally finished he had completely forgotten the conspiracy his brothers were planning against him. It was time to go after the vigilante.

He could see how proud Don was about the result of their mutual efforts. The Battle Shell purred as the purple-masked ninja turned the key in the ignition and brought it to life. _Turtle Power_ in all its beauty.

Raph didn’t even expect they would find the guy so soon. The bonehead was driving his bike towards Central Park, avoiding everything that could slow him down on his way.

“Floor it, Don, keep up with him!” Raph exclaimed as he watched the moron escaping them.

“You go get him, Raph,” Don said, and the smugness in his voice caught the hothead’s attention. “I've whipped up something special for you. It's in the back.”

Raph had to admit that when they had gotten in the Battle Shell, his only thought had been to get the bonehead before he hurt anyone, including himself. He hadn’t checked the back of the truck, so when he found a brand new bright red motorcycle standing there secured to the floor, he couldn’t hide his surprise.

“Like it?” Don asked from behind the wheel. “I call it a Shell Cycle!”

Raph couldn’t help the broad grin that split his face. “Donatello, you are the Turtle.”

The next thing that could be heard was the roaring of the Shell Cycle’s engine as it hit the road.

*

Raph couldn’t believe how great the evening turned out: he and his brothers had kicked some butts, he had made a new friend and become a proud owner of the best bike in the world. He was just cleaning his new baby when Don walked into the garage.

“Love at first ride?” the olive-skinned ninja teased.

“You bet,” Raph grinned, polishing the Shell Cycle with gentleness that he rarely showed anyone.

“I’m happy to hear that,” Don chuckled.

“This is pure perfection,” Raph purred. “Thank you for making this for me.”

“No problem, but I’m not the only one you should thank. Leo and Mikey helped a lot,” Don said. “Actually, it was Mikey who found the frame and sprayed the bike red and Leo mostly made sure you weren’t lurking around when I was working on this beauty.”

“So that’s what all that secrecy was about…” Raph observed. “I thought you guys were planning some prank on me.”

“Our brother Raphael. Always seeing the best in others,” Don scoffed. “Do you need a hand?” he offered.

“Nah, I’m good. Thanks.“ Raph turned back to his new bike.

Don chuckled. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”

“Hey, tell the guys I said thanks, will ya?”

“You can tell them yourself later.”

Raph grinned. “I definitely will.”


End file.
